ScienceLogic Dynamic Applications are policies that describe what data should be collected from managed systems, how it should be collected (SNMP, WMI, API, SQL, etc), how it should be presented, and what alerts should be created. Normally these are scheduled to run periodically, but sometimes you need to run them on an ad-hoc basis, particularly while testing new applications and systems.

Kiwicon 7 has just wrapped up in Wellington, New Zealand. Kiwicon is “New Zealand’s own Hacker Conference.” It’s a top-notch event that’s been running for 7 years now, and highly recommended for anyone in New Zealand with even a vague interest in IT Security.

Pricing for Enterprise IT hardware and software can be a strange process, and settling on a vendor quote is a complicated dance. Junior engineers normally are more focused on technology, and don’t see everything that goes on with pricing. When they do first get exposed to it, the whole thing can be a bit of a shock. Recently I was talking to some new engineers about some of the things I’ve learned over the years over pricing, discounts, support costs and payment models.

When talking about “Open” in the context of technology, most people think about Open Source, Open APIs, Open documentation, etc. But there’s another facet too: being open about where your business is going, what it’s thinking about, and what it’s not going to do. Open Roadmaps, if you like. Some businesses are remarkably open, others won’t even tell you what’s happening next week.

Many engineers assume that product selection is as simple as finding the product with the best combination of features that still comes in under budget. Should be easy, right? Err…so why did the boss over-rule me again, and insist on buying another Check Point firewall? Turns out there’s more to purchasing than just finding the best product. Here’s a few of the non-technical items that factor into it.

Strong communities can make an enormous difference to the success or failure of a product or technology. Look at Linux, or VMware as good examples of a strong community. But why do they matter, and how can Product Managers encourage community formation?